Journal of a Busy Mom

living one day at a time

Clean the Pantry Week

By

This week is Clean the Pantry week in our house. What does that mean? Clean the pantry week is the week I try to make all our meals from our pantry. Usually, it’s the week that has the last few days of an ending month and the first days of a new month. This week has 3 days from October and 2 days from November. I usually let myself get fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and 1-2 added “deals”.

Here is the complete menu:

Monday
Lemon Chicken
cooked rice
steamed broccoli

Tuesday
tri tip
potatoes
asparagus

Wednesday
taquitos
corn
salad

Thursday
Chicken enchilada casserole 

Friday
left over from the rest of the week

This really helps me to use up my pantry items and to save money. If I don’t “shop” once a month I really don’t miss out on much. I just don’t look at the ads so I don’t get tempted!

Ligia

Gluten Free Gooey Chocolate Cookie Bars

By

I needed to make an awesome dessert for  our weekly pow-wow. I chose the Gooey Chocolate Cookie Bars.

I found this card at the store and decided I could make this gluten free. So this is what I did:

I used the Betty Crocker Brownie mix (sold at most stores including Target, Safeway, Raley’s and more) instead of the other mix. I purchase mine sometimes through Amazon:

 

I used the Kinnikinnick Oreo cookies. I also get these at Amazon. I have seen them in SELECT stores:

 

Here is the recipe as it appears on back of the card (click on it to make it bigger):

So here is how it turned out!

It was very tasty and a hit. I love being able to create yummy gluten free desserts. Now I want to find an amazing apple treat!

Ligia

Freezer Cooking: Using cooked chicken breasts

By

I made a chicken enchilada casserole with one of the pre-cooked chicken breasts that I froze last week during my mini freezer cooking sessions. I can make this recipe using either a crockpot, the Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker (shown below) or in a casserole dish.

What I love about this recipe is I can make it year round. During the hot months, I can throw it in the crockpot and cook it in my garage or I can use the Baker; depends on whether I want to put it together earlier in the day or right before dinner. In the colder months I can use a casserole dish and use the oven or any of the other two methods.

Here is the recipe which I found on cooks.com. I adapted it to fit my family, so if you want to read the unchanged version read it online at the link above.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

2 whole chicken breasts, poached

1 14.5 oz can of mild red enchilada sauce (gluten free version for us)

1 small can green chili chilis

8 oz grated cheese (Jack, Cheddar, Sharp)

12 small corn tortillas

chicken broth

1. The night before defrost the frozed pre-cooked chicken breasts.

2. Shred the chicken into a bowl.

3. Mix the chicken with the enchilada sauce and chicken broth

4. Spread the small can of green chilis at the bottom of the dish.

5. Cover with layer of tortillas and a layer of chicken, followed by a layer of cheese.

6. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients and you end up with a final layer of cheese on the top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven or in the crockpot on high for 1 hour or 18-20 minutes in the microwave using a dish like my Pampered chef baker.